Solaris is a Unix operating system originally developed by Sun Microsystems.
It superseded their earlier SunOS in 1993.
Oracle Solaris, as it is now known, has been owned by Oracle Corporation since Oracle's
acquisition of Sun in January 2010.
Solaris is known for its scalability, especially on SPARC systems, and for originating many
innovative features such as DTrace, ZFS and Time Slider.
Solaris supports SPARC-based and x86-based workstations and servers from Oracle and other
vendors, with efforts underway to port to additional platforms.
Solaris is registered as compliant with the Single Unix Specification.
Solaris was historically developed as proprietary software.
Subsequently, in June 2005, Sun Microsystems released most of the codebase under the CDDL
license, and founded the OpenSolaris open source project.
With OpenSolaris, Sun wanted to build a developer and user community around the software.
After the acquisition of Sun Microsystems in January 2010, Oracle decided to discontinue
the OpenSolaris distribution and the development model.
Just ten days before the internal Oracle memo announcing this decision to employees was
"leaked", Garrett D'Amore had announced the illumos project, creating a fork of the Solaris
kernel and launching what has since become a thriving alternative to Oracle Solaris.
In August 2010, Oracle discontinued providing public updates to the source code of the Solaris
Kernel, effectively turning Solaris 11 into a closed source proprietary operating system.
However, through the Oracle Technology Network, industry partners can still gain access to
the in-development Solaris source code.
Source code for the open source components of Solaris 11 is available for download from
Oracle.
History In 1987, AT&T Corporation and Sun announced
that they were collaborating on a project to merge the most popular Unix variants on
the market at that time: BSD, System V, and Xenix.
This became Unix System V Release 4.
On September 4, 1991, Sun announced that it would replace its existing BSD-derived Unix,
SunOS 4, with one based on SVR4.
This was identified internally as SunOS 5, but a new marketing name was introduced at
the same time: Solaris 2.
Although SunOS 4.1.x micro releases were retroactively named Solaris 1 by Sun, the Solaris name is
used almost exclusively to refer to the SVR4-derived SunOS 5.0 and later.
The justification for this new "overbrand" was that it encompassed not only SunOS, but
also the OpenWindows graphical user interface and Open Network Computing functionality.
The SunOS minor version is included in the Solaris release number.
For example, Solaris 2.4 incorporated SunOS 5.4.
After Solaris 2.6, Sun dropped the "2."
from the number, so Solaris 7 incorporates SunOS 5.7, and the latest release SunOS 5.11
forms the core of Solaris 11.2.
Supported architectures Solaris uses a common code base for the platforms
it supports: SPARC and i86pc.
Solaris has a reputation for being well-suited to symmetric multiprocessing, supporting a
large number of CPUs.
It has historically been tightly integrated with Sun's SPARC hardware, with which it is
marketed as a combined package.
This has led to more reliable systems, but at a cost premium compared to commodity PC
hardware.
However, it has supported x86 systems since Solaris 2.1 and 64-bit x86 applications since
Solaris 10, allowing Sun to capitalize on the availability of commodity 64-bit CPUs
based on the x86-64 architecture.
Sun has heavily marketed Solaris for use with both its own "x64" workstations and servers
based on AMD Opteron and Intel Xeon processors, as well as x86 systems manufactured by companies
such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and IBM.
As of 2009, the following vendors support Solaris for their x86 server systems:
Dell - will "test, certify, and optimize Solaris and OpenSolaris on its rack and blade servers
and offer them as one of several choices in the overall Dell software menu"
IBM - also distributes Solaris and Solaris Subscriptions for select x86-based IBM System
x servers and BladeCenter servers Intel
Hewlett-Packard - distributes and provides software technical support for Solaris on
ProLiant server and blade systems Fujitsu Siemens
As of July 2010, Dell and HP certify and resell Oracle Solaris, Oracle Enterprise Linux and
Oracle VM on their respective x86 platforms, and IBM stopped direct support for Solaris
on x64 kit.
Other platforms Solaris 2.5.1 included support for the PowerPC
platform, but the port was canceled before the Solaris 2.6 release.
In January 2006 a community of developers at Blastwave began work on a PowerPC port
which they named Polaris.
In October 2006, an OpenSolaris community project based on the Blastwave efforts and
Sun Labs' Project Pulsar, which re-integrated the relevant parts from Solaris 2.5.1 into
OpenSolaris, announced its first official source code release.
A port of Solaris to the Intel Itanium architecture was announced in 1997 but never brought to
market.
On November 28, 2007, IBM, Sun, and Sine Nomine Associates demonstrated a preview of OpenSolaris
for System z running on an IBM System z mainframe under z/VM, called Sirius.
On October 17, 2008 a prototype release of Sirius was made available and on November
19 the same year, IBM authorized the use of Sirius on System z IFL processors.
Solaris also supports the Linux platform ABI, allowing Solaris to run native Linux binaries
on x86 systems.
This feature is called "Solaris Containers for Linux Applications" or SCLA, based on
the branded zones functionality introduced in Solaris 10 8/07.
Installation and usage options Solaris can be installed from various pre-packaged
software groups, ranging from a minimalistic "Reduced Network Support" to a complete "Entire
Plus OEM".
Installation of Solaris is not necessary for an individual to use the system.
Additional software, like Apache, MySQL, etc. can be installed as well in a packaged form
from sunfreeware and OpenCSW.
Solaris can be installed from physical media or a network for use on a desktop or server,
or be without installing on a desktop or server.
Desktop environments
Early releases of Solaris used OpenWindows as the standard desktop environment.
In Solaris 2.0 to 2.2, OpenWindows supported both NeWS and X applications, and provided
backward compatibility for SunView applications from Sun's older desktop environment.
NeWS allowed applications to be built in an object oriented way using PostScript, a common
printing language released in 1982.
The X Window System originated from MIT's Project Athena in 1984 and allowed for the
display of an application to be disconnected from the machine where the application was
running, separated by a network connection.
Sun’s original bundled SunView application suite was ported to X.
Sun later dropped support for legacy SunView applications and NeWS with OpenWindows 3.3,
which shipped with Solaris 2.3, and switched to X11R5 with Display Postscript support.
The graphical look and feel remained based upon OPEN LOOK.
OpenWindows 3.6.2 was the last release under Solaris 8.
The OPEN LOOK Window Manager with other OPEN LOOK specific applications were dropped in
Solaris 9, but support libraries were still bundled, providing long term binary backwards
compatibility with existing applications.
The OPEN LOOK Virtual Window Manager can still be downloaded for Solaris from sunfreeware
and works on releases as recent as Solaris 10.
Sun and other Unix vendors created an industry alliance to standardize Unix desktops.
As a member of COSE, the Common Open Software Environment initiative, Sun helped co-develop
the Common Desktop Environment.
CDE was an initiative to create a standard Unix desktop environment.
Each vendor contributed different components: Hewlett-Packard contributed the window manager,
IBM provided the file manager, and Sun provided the e-mail and calendar facilities as well
as drag-and-drop support.
This new desktop environment was based upon the Motif look and feel and the old OPEN LOOK
desktop environment was considered legacy.
CDE unified Unix desktops across multiple open system vendors.
CDE was available as an unbundled add-on for Solaris 2.4 and 2.5, and was included in Solaris
2.6 through 10.
In 2001, Sun issued a preview release of the open-source desktop environment GNOME 1.4,
based on the GTK+ toolkit, for Solaris 8.
Solaris 9 8/03 introduced GNOME 2.0 as an alternative to CDE.
Solaris 10 includes Sun's Java Desktop System, which is based on GNOME and comes with a large
set of applications, including StarOffice, Sun's office suite.
Sun describes JDS as a "major component" of Solaris 10.
The Java Desktop System is not included in Solaris 11 which instead ships with a stock
version of GNOME.
Likewise, CDE applications are no longer included in Solaris 11, but many libraries remain for
binary backwards compatibility.
The open source desktop environments KDE and Xfce, along with numerous other window managers,
also compile and run on recent versions of Solaris.
Sun was investing in a new desktop environment called Project Looking Glass since 2003.
The project has been inactive since late 2006.
License From 2005-2010, when Solaris was still being
developed by Sun Microsystems, Solaris' source code was released under the Common Development
and Distribution License via the OpenSolaris project.
When Sun was acquired by Oracle in 2010 the OpenSolaris project was discontinued after
the board became unhappy with Oracle's stance on the project.
In March 2010 the previously freely available Solaris 10 was placed under a restrictive
license that limited the use, modification and redistribution of the operating system.
The license allowed the user to download the operating system free of charge, through the
Oracle Technology Network, and use it for a 90 day trial period.
After that trial period had expired the user would then have to purchase a support contract
from Oracle to continue using the operating system.
With the release of Solaris 11 in 2011 the license terms changed again.
The new license allows Solaris 10 and Solaris 11 to be downloaded free of charge from the
Oracle Technology Network and used without a support contract indefinitely however the
license only expressly permits the user to use Solaris as a development platform and
expressly forbids commercial and "production" use.
There is some uncertainty over whether Solaris can be used at home for hobbyist and educational
purposes.
Oracle has not officially clarified its position on home use.
When Solaris is used without a support contract it can be upgraded annually to each new "point
release" however a support contract is required for access to patches and updates that are
released monthly.
Version history
Notable features of Solaris currently include DTrace, Doors, Service Management Facility,
Solaris Containers, Solaris Multiplexed I/O, Solaris Volume Manager, ZFS, and Solaris Trusted
Extensions.
Updates to Solaris versions are periodically released, such as Solaris 10 10/09.
In ascending order, the following versions of Solaris have been released:
A more comprehensive summary of some Solaris versions is also available.
Solaris releases are also described in the Solaris 2 FAQ.
Development release The underlying Solaris codebase has been under
continuous development since work began in the late 1980s on what was eventually released
as Solaris 2.0.
Each version such as Solaris 10 is based on a snapshot of this development codebase, taken
near the time of its release, which is then maintained as a derived project.
Updates to that project are built and delivered several times a year until the next official
release comes out.
The Solaris version under development by Sun since the release of Solaris 10 in 2005 is
codenamed Nevada, and is derived from what is now the OpenSolaris codebase.
In 2003, an addition to the Solaris development process was initiated.
Under the program name Software Express for Solaris, a binary release based on the current
development basis was made available for download on a monthly basis, allowing anyone to try
out new features and test the quality and stability of the OS as it progressed to the
release of the next official Solaris version.
A later change to this program introduced a quarterly release model with support available,
renamed Solaris Express Developer Edition.
In 2007, Sun announced Project Indiana with several goals, including providing an open
source binary distribution of the OpenSolaris project, replacing SXDE.
The first release of this distribution was OpenSolaris 2008.05.
The Solaris Express Community Edition was intended specifically for OpenSolaris developers.
It was updated every two weeks until it was discontinued in January 2010, with a recommendation
that users migrate to the OpenSolaris distribution.
Although the download license seen when downloading the image files indicates its use is limited
to personal, educational and evaluation purposes, the license acceptance form displayed when
the user actually installs from these images lists additional uses including commercial
and production environments.
SXCE releases terminated with build 130 and OpenSolaris releases terminated with build
134 a few weeks later.
The next release of OpenSolaris based on build 134 was due in March 2010 but it was never
fully released, though the packages were made available on the package repository.
Instead, Oracle renamed the binary distribution Solaris 11 Express, changed the license terms
and released build 151a as 2010.11 in November 2010.
See also
References
External links Solaris Official Home Page
Solaris at DMOZ Screenshots of JDS in Solaris 10
SunHELP - Sun/Solaris News, References, and Information
Nikolai Bezroukov.
Solaris vs. Linux: Ecosystem-based Approach and Framework for the Comparison in Large
Enterprise Environments - Large Softpanorama article comparing Solaris 10 and Linux 2.6
Sun Country Solaris Blog Planet Feed
Everything Solaris - Solaris information site by Michael Holve
OpenSXCE, a new fork of Solaris supporting SPARC and x86 hardware